Halls of Magic
by Gredival
Summary: Friendship, love, and dreams all run through the walls of the Hinata House. That is why the building holds such a special place within the hearts of its residents, there's no place like home.
1. Before the Sakura Falls

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Love Hina or the characters in any way shape form. They are copyrights of Tokyopop and Ken Akumatsu.  
  
Author's Notes: I stick to IC but as I do develop characters expect OOC elements from development to appear gradually. I'm using the Love Hina Manga as my base for this fanfic, which has an ending that is radically different from the anime so please be aware of this before reading. I might use Japanese words for chapter titles and such, but never in the fic itself (I believe if you write in English stick to English). Thanks and now on to the fic.  
  
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Love Hina - Halls of Magic  
  
Chapter 1 - Before the Sakura Falls  
  
-Gredival  
  
= = = = = = = = = = =  
  
The wind sent dust and leaves into the air as it blew through. The trees swayed, powerless to remain still against the breeze. Shinobu Maehara shielded her delicate face using her right hand, while balancing her precariously positioned books in her other arm. She slowly made her way up the stairs. As she reached the summit of the stairs, she glanced at the building before her for a brief second. Shinobu still felt lost in it all, she had lived the experiences, sure, but they still felt so unreal. Keitaro and Naru had just gotten married and had just left for Kyoto. It was real and it was fact, but the girl still found it so foreign. It would be different without having them around for a few weeks. Another breeze swept by, tickling Shinobu's skin with its chill, and waking her from her reverie. She hurried inside the walls of the Hinata House Girls Dormitory.  
  
"I'm home!" she shouted. There wasn't an answer. Everyone must still be out, she thought. She strolled over to the counter and put her books down. The young woman walked over to the couch and flipped on the radio as she redid her ponytail, binding up the silk purplish black stands.  
  
"The storms are causing irregular weather throughout the Kyoto area," the voice crackled from the box. "Much of the city has been flooded..."  
  
---  
  
The cold rain pounded on the sides and windows of the white van that drove through the wet streets. Naru sat back in her seat staring idly at the rainy city.  
  
"You okay?" Keitaro asked, noticing Naru's bored gaze.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine," Naru answered forcing a smile. She wasn't telling the truth of course. Their hotel had flooded and unable to find another room their honeymoon has essentially been rained out. And thus the roller coaster of fate and misfortune that had characterized their relationship continued. Keitaro's eyes floated back to Naru. The simple attire of a turtleneck and Capri's complemented her feminine frame as she relaxed in her seat. Her long brown hair fell in straight stands down past her shoulders, with two distinctive bangs on her head.  
  
"Oh my God! Keitaro! Look at the road!" Naru yelled pointing ahead while shaking him.  
  
Keitaro looked up in time to see the van crash into the side of the bridge. "Oops," he said, innocently scratching his head as the van plunged into the river.  
  
"We're going to die!" his wife screamed flailing her arms, trying to block out the flashbacks of her life passing before her eyes.  
  
---  
  
"Urashima..." Motoko whispered as their lips parted. "We can't do this, it's wrong..."  
  
"Why?" the man said with a smile, his eyes seeming to peer into the depths of the swordswoman's soul.  
  
"What about Naru-sempai?" the woman asked.  
  
"Motoko you're the only one I care about," the man promised her with a seductive smile. He leaned in for another kiss...  
  
"Gaaah!" Motoko yelled as she threw the page into the air. "This again?!" she asked in disbelief. "I have a test tomorrow and I'm writing this?!" She slumped into her arms folded on her desk, the page drifting back down. This is pathetic, the law student muttered to herself. She lifted her head, bringing her eyes up to peer over her forearms at the kanji written on the paper.  
  
"Urashima..." Motoko whispered as she read. She sighed and chuckled at herself.  
  
There was a tap at the door, and the law student shoved the paper underneath her books in a hurry. "Motoko, dinner's ready," Shinobu said poking her head into the room.  
  
"Yeah I'll be right there!" Motoko replied, quickly standing up to block her desk from view.  
  
"You okay Motoko?" Shinobu asked.  
  
"Uh yeah! Sure! Why wouldn't I be?" the ronin responded nervously.  
  
"You just seem a bit tense, that's all," the younger girl said with a smile. "Come on, we'll be waiting for you." With that, Shinobu made her way back to the dining room. Motoko let out an exasperated sigh as she undid her ponytail, letting her silky black hair drape around her. She turned her head upwards to gaze at the ceiling, trying to reorient the jumbled thoughts in her head.  
  
Just in time to see Tama-chan land on top of her. "Myu!" the turtle cried out.  
  
"AGGGGGH!!!" Motoko cried out as she bolted from her rooms, waving her arms frantically.  
  
---  
  
"It's a good thing this van has submarine capabilities isn't it?" Keitaro said cheerfully as they moved through the floodwaters. Naru's expression was a mix of amazement, awe, and stupefied disbelief. Mostly stupefied disbelief.  
  
"Keitaro why does this van have submarine capabilities?" she asked dryly.  
  
"Hrm come to think of it I don't really know," he answered. "Never asked Seta," he said scratching the back of his head.  
  
Naru sighed and sank back in her seat. I can't believe the Kyoto gets hit with a massive storm during our honeymoon, Naru thought. Exhaling her breath towards her forehead, she blew some stray hair away from her eyes.  
  
"Naru... I know that the trip's not going how we expected it would, but I'm glad I'm here with you," Keitaro said putting his hand on Naru's. He smiled at her, losing his thoughts for a moment as he looked at her face. Naru smiled back and leaned over, her arm wrapping around Keitaro's neck as she kissed him. Keitaro's tried to wrap an arm around Naru's back, but he sorely misjudged the distance, his hand coming to rest on a familiar round and soft something.  
  
"You pervert!"  
  
---  
  
The girl removed her glasses and rubbed her freckled face. I'm never going to get this, Ema Maeda thought to herself. Sine, cosine, tangent... it all just seemed to blend into one big mass of numbers that taunted her. Even when she seemed to begin to unravel the foreign language that was advanced math it led her to a dead end.  
  
"You need to remember the quadrant you're working in when you do those," Su commented as she bit into her banana.  
  
"Huh?" Ema asked startled.  
  
"Hehe sorry for barging in," the Molmol Princess said. She pointed the banana to a line of numbers on the page. "You messed up there with the sign, that's why your answer is off."  
  
The high school sophomore looked and stared at the mistake. "Augh how could I be so stupid?!"  
  
"If you want you can try my new math teaching helmet!" Su said pulling out a suspicious looking piece of headwear. Ema could see pieces from the missing toaster protruding from it.  
  
"Uh, no thanks Su, I think I'll do it the old fashioned way," Ema replied nervously a trickle of sweat creeping down her face, "gray hair and loss of sleep."  
  
"Okies," she responded finishing her banana. "But den you might want to move over to the café so you can get some coffee." She wandered out of the room to leave Ema with her textbook. She glanced at it and decided moving over to the café might not be such a bad idea after all.  
  
---  
  
Keitaro's head laid on Naru's lap, a soft groan coming from his lips as the girl stared idyllically at him. Naru moved the wet towel and stroked his head affectionately. Keitaro's eyes fluttered open slowly. "Hey there, you awake?" Naru whispered.  
  
Keitaro blinked, trying to clear his vision. A dangling cross came into vision. "Mm Naru?" Keitaro asked sleepily.  
  
Naru nodded, her hands brushing Keitaro's hair away. She placed his slim glasses onto his face, Naru's blurry outline becoming more defined as the layer of glass passed in front of his eyes. "Did it hurt?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Liar," Naru accused poking a finger into Keitaro's jaw making him wince in pain.  
  
"Okay maybe a bit," the immortal archaeologist admitted. Naru leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Now let's get back home," the girl said with a smile. "It's almost time for the festival."  
  
----  
  
Ema's eyes opened wide as she saw the scene before her. The other girls of the Hinata House were outside decorating the grounds. Kitsune crossed her arms over the Hinata Café apron across her chest, leaning back against a tree lazily. A cigarette was pursed to the woman's lips, flickering as Kitsune took a breath. Noticing Ema, the fox eyed woman called her over.  
  
"Hey Kitsune what's going on?" the younger girl asked.  
  
"We're preparing for the Hinata House's annual Cherry Blossom Festival," Kitsune answered with a grin.  
  
"The cherry blossoms here are really beautiful," Mutsumi said with giggle, appearing behind the pair. She was holding a box of full of sake in her right arm, and held a watermelon in the grip of her left hand. "Kitsune- san where do you want the sake?"  
  
"Oh just put it down there for now," Kitsune said pointing to a table. The Toudai medical student started over to the table before slipping on one of Su's banana peels.  
  
"Whoopsie!" Mutsumi said as she stumbled trying to catch herself, the watermelon flying out of her hand soaring through the sky.  
  
This is going to be bad, Kitsune thought to herself rolling the distinctive cigarette in her mouth. The green fruit began to descend in the area where the other three Hinata House residents were setting up the dinner area.  
  
"Watch out!" Ema called. However the melon smashed into the ground, the shell shattering and covering the three girls in spongy red watermelon.  
  
"Sorry," Mutsumi apologized innocently.  
  
----  
  
The steam was thick due to the coolness of the air and the contrasting heat of the springs. The girls lounged around in the Hot Springs, melting into the warm water as they felt it cleanse them.  
  
"Nothing like a hot bath," Kitsune said stretching her arms and sliding down so the water came up to her shoulders. She reached backwards and poured herself some sake.  
  
"Save some of that for the festival," Motoko remarked dryly.  
  
"Aw not having fun? I'm sure I can fix that," Kitsune said with a lewd smile, her cheeks slightly red, due to both the steamed heat of the bath and the amount of sake she had consumed. Motoko felt a chill run down her back as she felt Kitsune's hands on her skin.  
  
"Oh my!" Mutsumi remarked.  
  
"Looks like Motoko found someone to replace Keitaro," Su giggled pointing at the scene with amusement.  
  
Shinobu and Ema just stared wide-eyed at the scene.  
  
"How can you be this wasted already?!" Motoko yelled at the Café owner chasing her away. Kitsune snickered drunkenly as she waded away from the angry sword bearing Motoko. For the first time Kitsune seriously thought she had consumed too much alcohol as the van broke the surface of the bath, leaping out to soar in between the angry Motoko and the buzzed Kitsune.  
  
The van flopped back onto the water and the girls could see a door open from behind the misty veil of the thick steam. Motoko clutched her sword, her hand ready to draw the blade in a second's need. Su has somehow procured the controls for Mecha Tama 30.0  
  
"You don't need that!" Shinobu wailed as she noticed what Su was doing.  
  
A wind blew past scattering the thick covering of mist to reveal a man wearing a white lab coat on, standing waist deep in the spring, confused as to where he was.  
  
"Keitaro?"  
  
"Urashima?"  
  
"Sempai?"  
  
"Kei-kun?"  
  
The man turned around upon hearing familiar voices, and waved. "Oh hey guys, I thought this place looked eerily familiar," he said with a little laugh.  
  
Motoko was not so amused, as could be seen by her shaking hands, and neither was Keitaro's bride standing behind him. Ema busied herself by sinking into the water out of sight, her face scarlet red from the appearance of a man in the hot spring. Su and Shinobu both knew what was next as they took care to move Mutsumi from harm.  
  
The demon sword slid out of its sheath in a fluid movement that also brought Motoko rushing at the man. "Boulder Cutting Blade!"  
  
Naru's fist also came at the man. "You pervert!"  
  
"I'm sorry!" Keitaro cried as he was blown backwards from the shockwave of Motoko's strike into Naru's fist.  
  
"I'm glad Sempai is immortal," Shinobu said quietly as she watched Keitaro land in the trees about thirty feet away away.  
  
----  
  
"So why are you back so soon, some problems in consummating the relationship?" Kitsune asked with a grin.  
  
"Well..." Keitaro started before Naru smacked him upside the head.  
  
"You don't need to know about those things Kitsune!" Naru snapped. "And for your information the hotel was flooded and we couldn't find a room," she added looking away.  
  
"Well you are in time for the festival, let's go!" Su said dragging Shinobu and Ema off to the party area.  
  
Kitsune got up next, pulling on Motoko's sleeve a bit. "Let's give the lovers a little time to themselves," Kitsune whispered under her breath as she passed Motoko. Motoko followed Kitsune's lead.  
  
Keitaro stood up, and then noticed the look on Naru's eyes. Following her gaze to the blossoming cherry trees in the grove. Their petals were a soft hue of pink, almost white. The color was warm and welcoming, offering a sense of familiarity to the couple. "It's good to be back, even if it was unscheduled."  
  
Naru nodded her agreement turning her head to favor Keitaro with a smile. "I'm glad we arrived before the cherry blossoms fell, and," Naru started as she got up, "most of all I'm glad we're here together." She kissed Keitaro and moved off towards the party turning back to him. "You coming?"  
  
A smile crossed Keitaro's face; "I wouldn't miss it for the world." 


	2. A Trial without the Sword

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Love Hina - Halls of Magic  
  
Chapter 2 - A trial without the Sword  
  
-Gredival  
  
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The thrusting blade was easily pushed aside with a quick double parry. The black sword swung across at the open chest. The sword cut through the air - but nothing else as the man was already ten yards away.  
  
"Hundred Blossom Profusion Strike!"  
  
The black sword came from his left sweeping to the high right with incredible speed. His hand clasped around the handle clumsily and it swung hard to his left parrying the blow, the enemy blade caught between the cross section of the blade and hilt. His left hand, open palm, came to strike at the swordswoman's grip. Seeing the strike, she disengaged the man's sword and threw herself backwards - the palm catching nothing but air.  
  
The woman skidded on her sandaled feet backwards, her sword held out to her right side as she faced her enemy. The dust floated between them like a thick fog. He gripped his sword's handle, holding it in a defensive position. She brought her sword into striking position and pushed off the ground to the man like an arrow thrusting her sword forward. His sword came in an arc pushing the blade to the side as he shifted to his right. He bent his wrist changing the direction the sword faced, and swung upwards. Bending backwards the sword passed over the swordswoman's body harmlessly, and without missing a beat she completed the back flip, also sending her feet to connect with the man's head. She landed on her feet just in time to watch her opponent fall to the ground.  
  
Hina was at his throat the next second. "Checkmate." The sword slid back into its sheath with a click. "I believe it's Sixteen to Twenty-eight now?" Motoko Aoyama, Shihan of the God's Cry School, said more than asked  
  
Keitaro rubbed his head, and nodded.  
  
"Sempai are you all right?" Shinobu asked as she rushed over to Keitaro.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine," Keitaro said as he picked himself up.  
  
"That's it for today." The swordswoman walked towards the Hinata House, then turned back to face Keitaro. "You're getting much better," Motoko said with a small smile on her face. She stepped into the apartment complex wiping her forehead with her sleeve. She wasn't lying when she said Keitaro was getting better; it was beginning to become the workout that she had promised.  
  
"Motoko!" Su called from the lobby. "You have mail!"  
  
Motoko walked into the lobby and took the envelope that Su offered her. It's from the testing center, she thought noting the return address. She tore open the envelope and snapped the papers opened. Motoko gaped at the result of the test, her mouth hanging agape. If it weren't for the slight twitching, one could easily have mistaken the woman for a statue. Applicant has very little aptitude, other career opportunities should be considered.  
  
"Motoooko?" Su poked at her stunned friend innocently from the side, Motoko not noticing a bit. The princess noticed the piece of paper in the older girl's hand. "What'cha got there?" Su asked, reaching over Motoko's back and grabbing at the paper.  
  
"Wha? Gah no!" Motoko snapped, fleeing to keep her test results from the younger girl's eyes. She ran out of the lobby and bolted up the stairs trying to keep one step ahead of the pursuing princess. She didn't notice Keitaro walking down the stairs until she plowed into him sending them sprawling to the ground. Motoko groaned as she slowly picked herself up. Keitaro glanced upward rubbing his sore head.  
  
His vision came to rest on a view of Motoko's chest, provided by her loose hakama top. Motoko looked down to see Keitaro's bulging eyes. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and Keitaro scrambled away, already pleading for his life.  
  
"You bastard!" the kendo yelled as she lunged at the archaeologist. However when Keitaro turned to face Motoko, he was holding a piece of paper. "Ack! No my test! Don't look at that!" the girl cried as her blade connected with the landlord's chest, sending him half flying half skidding down the hall. The tactic didn't work however; Keitaro crashed into the wall with the paper floating down on top of his head in front of his eyes. Motoko simply slumped over. Her long black hair draped over her face.  
  
What is he doing? Motoko thought to herself as Keitaro's hand clasped around her own. "Let me go Urashima!"  
  
"Hey look Motoko, come with me to town and we can pick up some things to help you study, and we can sit down later tonight."  
  
"...Do you really mean it?" Motoko asked softly, looking up at Keitaro, her voice vulnerable and weak.  
  
"Yeah of course," Keitaro said with a nod.  
  
----  
  
Keitaro flipped through a book in his hands idly. Motoko stood twenty feet away to his side, also trying to look over the books. Her eyes turned to look at her friend. He was wearing a simple black T-shirt with an open white shirt and khaki slacks. His slim glasses had slipped down his nose a little giving him, what she thought, a slightly sophisticated look. A strap crossed his chest and the bag connected to it hung low to his side. She noticed him glance up and she buried her face back into the book in her hands.  
  
Keitaro walked over, "Hey find anything good?"  
  
"This one has some okay things," she lied. She hadn't even read a page of the book. Well she had, but it was more like her eyes were moving across pages without anything really registering. The same way a student reads assigned literature, to get in done and not absorbing anything.  
  
"Well I think this one could help," Keitaro said, offering her a thick book. "I need to go pick something up, I'll meet you back here in a few minutes, okay?"  
  
"Yeah sure," Motoko replied, taking the book.  
  
Keitaro strolled through the isle and out the sliding doors of the bookstore into the spring sun. He squinted a bit while his eyes adjusted to the more intense sunlight. The plaza wasn't crowded but it was far from deserted. Plenty of shoppers and window shoppers strolled through the streets, each appearing to be without a care in the world to the oblivious people all around.  
  
Haitani and Shirai sighed as they leaned back against the restaurant doors, the boredom on their faces easily readable, as if painted on paper charms attached to their heads. They blinked slowly as they watched Keitaro passed in front of them. They looked at each other slowly and back at the passing Keitaro.  
  
The taller man reached out and grabbed the clueless archaeologist. "You don't say hi to your best friends?!" Haitani asked.  
  
Keitaro blinked as he looked at the pair. "Uhh, who are you again?" Keitaro asked innocently, scratching his head as if to accentuate his mental lapse.  
  
"I'm Haitani!" the man said shaking Keitaro.  
  
"And I'm Shirai!" the shorter one added.  
  
Keitaro studied them a bit, then a wave of recognition swept past Keitaro's face, "Oh hey!"  
  
"Don't hey us!" the annoyed Shirai instructed. "And aren't you supposed to be in Kyoto with Naru?"  
  
"Did she finally break up with you?" Haitani ventured.  
  
"And on your honeymoon too!" the other man remarked as he sighed, shaking his head in pity of Keitaro.  
  
"Guess we'll have to bring you out to get you drunk and over her," Haitani added, readjusting the small lenses on his face as he talked.  
  
"It also means Naru is free too now," Shirai interjected.  
  
"It's not like that!" Keitaro yelled waving his arms at them.  
  
"Then what are you doing here then?" Haitani questioned looking at the archaeologist suspiciously.  
  
"Well we were in Kyoto but we had to come back," Keitaro explained. "The hotel was flooded and we couldn't find a room.  
  
"Urashima?" Motoko asked, walking up to the three-man group. Shirai and Haitani looked at each other again, then at Keitaro then at Motoko. They proceeded to drag a confused Keitaro away, leaving Motoko blinking bewildered by the spectacle.  
  
"You're cheating on your wife already you dog?!" Shirai accused as he gripped Keitaro in a headlock.  
  
"How could you do that to Naru?" Haitani sighed, shaking his head. "Well I guess she'll need a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk to..."  
  
"Will you guys cut it out already?!" Keitaro wailed. "I'm just helping Motoko study."  
  
"Ah an older married tutor and landlord helping his younger beautiful tenet... One thing leads to another..." Shirai started, his voice trailing off, the rest explained by the pair's snickering.  
  
"What the hell have you been watching?!" Keitaro asked them as he hit both of them on the head. "Get your minds out of the gutter! You guys have spent way too much time around Kitsune!"  
  
----  
  
"All right, a client comes to you in confidence and has the location of an alive kidnapped person that will die without medical attention," Keitaro read aloud from the book. "You are legally obligated to tell the police, or keep confidence?"  
  
Motoko's mouth formed a thin light as she considered the question, her hand twirling her pen idly while she concentrated. A small grunt of discomfort, as from the difficulty of the question, escaped her lips. She stopped the twirling pen with her thumb, and answered, "Tell the police, important of the life takes precedence over my lawyer client confidence."  
  
"Good!" Keitaro congratulated her cheerfully. "You are freed from confidence obligations because you are allowed to commit a crime to prevent a bigger one," he explained, reading the answer from the book, "and you have the legal obligation to bring forth evidence about missing people to the police."  
  
Motoko sighed and leaned back, her arms propping her up as she slouched back. Her head, pulled by gravity, pointed skywards looking at the roof above. "Never thought law would be so complicated," she admitted to Keitaro.  
  
"You never did tell me," Keitaro started, setting down the study book on the table, "why you wanted to become a lawyer, so what made you enter law school?"  
  
"Hm, I never really thought about it," the Kendo answered, redirecting her gaze to Keitaro. "Idealism," she answered after a second, looking away into the view of her window. "The God's Cry sword is about protecting the innocent... And in law you think it's just about defending the innocent and prosecuting the wretched of the world then it turns out to be just so..."  
  
"Muddled?" Keitaro finished. Motoko nodded, turning her glance back to Keitaro.  
  
"Maybe I'm not cut out to be a lawyer," Motoko wondered aloud.  
  
"The most important thing is that you enjoy what you do," Keitaro told her. She quirked an eyebrow, "I know may sound kind of weird but that's the only way to be happy. You're good at a lot of things, but you need to find something that you can pour your heart into."  
  
Motoko couldn't help but wonder when Keitaro got so deep. "Urashima..." the girl closed her eyes, "are you happy?"  
  
"Well I'm not saying things couldn't be better," the Hinata Landlord started, scratching the back of his head. "But, overall yeah I'm pretty satisfied, why do you ask?"  
  
"...Have you ever wondered sometimes, about, how things would have been if you had made different choices?" the tenet ventured. "Would you be happy?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe and maybe not... I just kind of fell into archaeology," Keitaro answered.  
  
"What about different parts of your life, your choice to live and stay here for one. And your choice of wh-" Motoko's voice trailed off as she looked away.  
  
Keitaro's hand patted Motoko's shoulder softly. "I don't think I would be as happy as I am if it were not for the Hinata House and..."  
  
It was her turn to finish his thought this time, "Naru."  
  
Why am I crying? Motoko thought to herself as she felt herself sobbing, trails of wet tears down her face. Keitaro's arm wrapped around her in an attempt to console the crying swordswoman. She turned around and threw herself onto him, as if she were afraid he would disappear.  
  
Keitaro stayed there, pangs of guilt flicking daggers at his heart. He knew the sorrow of an unrequited love. The vestiges of pain he felt at the memory of insignificance to Seta were still very sharp. But he knew he never had to see Naru marry someone else.  
  
"Hey Keitaro, Shinobu told me you we-" Naru started as she slid the door open.  
  
"Uh I can explain!" Keitaro blurted out nervously. Motoko, noticing just how close she was to the man, immediately distanced herself in the presence of his wife. She shook her head furiously, angry at herself for her moment of weakness.  
  
"Explain to the wall!" the hotheaded Naru retorted as her fist closed the distance to the rambling Keitaro's face. She stormed out of the room throwing back a "You pervert!" for good measure.  
  
Keitaro got up and rushed to the door, and looked back at Motoko, torn between consoling his friend and running after the woman he loved. Motoko made it easy as she nodded silently. He was gone.  
  
I cry... because she's the one he cares for, and for once in my life I have lost... and there is nothing I can do about it, the God's Cry School Shihan thought, sighing as she watched him disappear. "You never did give me an answer..."  
  
----  
  
"Naru!" Keitaro called as he chased after her.  
  
"Why are you chasing me?" Naru snapped. "Go off and be with Motoko! See if I care!"  
  
Keitaro was about to respond as he tripped on a rock sending him barreling to the floor - and crashing into Naru.  
  
"Naru, nothing was going on," Keitaro tried to assure her, extending his hand to touch her cheek softly, brushing away some stray hair.  
  
"...I know that," Naru said picking herself up. She extended her hand and helped Keitaro up, then pulled him close, brushing her lips against his in a quick kiss. She backed away quickly and strode, arms spread wide to the edge of the cliff. "It's just I don't know what I would do in Motoko's position. It has to be hard for her. And... I guess I'm still scared sometimes about us..." she said leaning against the railing.  
  
"You have my heart," Keitaro said softly.  
  
"Yes, but you have hers," Naru replied turning around to face Keitaro. The wind blew gently, blowing out her long brown hair like a wave. With a wistful smile she turned around facing the setting sun again. Keitaro felt as if he couldn't take his eyes off her, but moved to join her. Naru silently wrapped her arm around him.  
  
"Sometimes I get scared too," Keitaro admitted, "but as long as you're with me I know everything will be fine. You once told me that the most important thing was how we felt about each other, and I know things aren't problem free but I'm happy."  
  
"I'm happy too," she said, resting her head on Keitaro's shoulder, smiling.  
  
The sun had begun to set bathing the area in a golden warm light as it departed. The sky was painted red and orange, the blue of the day gone, as the fiery star disappeared under the horizon of the Earth. For however magnificent the display was though, it could not compete with the girl's simple smile.  
  
Motoko could only sigh with a bittersweet smile as she watched from the window in the hallway.  
  
Author's Notes: Okay before anyone kills me I had ended this project long ago then I realized when I logged into FF.net after a long absence the Chapter didn't even upload. I still have a few ideas for this fic, so it has hope of seeing a third chapter when I finish with my current project (a redo of my Gundam fic). 


End file.
